Pokemon Adventure Series
by ShadowBall aka Ball-of-Fire Sh
Summary: A boy, named Sky, and his two Pokemon, Volcano a Charmeleon and Slasher a Sandslash, go on a dangerous lifetime adventure. What will happen to them and what troubles will they encounter along the way? Find out by reading this series.
1. Crystal Pikachu

Crystal Pikachu  
  
By: Shadow  
  
  
  
Sky was walking down the road, alone as he wanted to be.  
  
"HELP!!!!!"  
  
It was a sound that made him run. He didn't know if he was safe here in Bolivar Town. With the murders and stuff around, he wasn't sure whom he could trust.  
  
Instead of running home though, he ran to the thing that called for help. It could have been anything, but as he approached it, it was a crystal like Pikachu. It was hurt pretty badly, and it started to TALK.  
  
"I…need…help…" it said, closing its eyes.  
  
"No! Don't close your eyes. Don't!" Sky said, picking up the crystal Pikachu and running home. He knew he had to get it home before it died. It was so unique. He touched it to make sure it was still breathing and felt its heart beating. He picked up the pace.  
  
It was starting to rain when Sky burst through his door, wet, in satisfaction. The Pikachu was still breathing and it looked like it would wake any second now.  
  
"Mom! I'm home! I've got something and it needs help." Sky yelled, knowing that his Dad didn't like Pokemon very much, though they surrounded him. "Mom? Dad?"  
  
Sky ran through his home looking for his parents. In the living room, the place was a big mess. He found his parents lying there, on the floor, covered in blood.  
  
"Why'd this happen? If it weren't for you, I would have saved them." He shook the Pikachu hard 'til it woke up. Crying as he was, he was used to people dying on him. He took this death calmly.  
  
"Watch it!" the Pikachu whined. "Don't shake me so hard! What'd you say?" Sky repeated what he had said. "Well, you would have been like them if it wasn't for me. Besides, I was hurt!"  
  
"Oh… I hadn't thought about that. By the way, you can talk? I only know of one other Pokemon that can. And he's a bad one. Meowth, with Team Rocket. Famous for battling Ash." Sky said. "I'm Sky and your Crystal Pikachu." Still crying, he introduced himself to the Pikachu.  
  
"Nope. Well, I am. But, that's not my name. I'm called Crystal 'round these joints."  
  
"Cool."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Crystal's POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I looked around the bloodied room. Seemed pretty… gross. Looks like I'm hooked up with…um…Sky over there. And I thought I was meant to be free…  
  
I looked around some more. Not much here but a few rather new Pokeballs. I opened one. Some Pokemon I've never seen before in my life comes out. It's pretty scary looking, I'd say. It's some hedgehog like Pokemon.  
  
"Hey! Over here. Are you hooked up with Sky?" I ask him in Pokemon language, not sure if he could understand the human language.  
  
"It's called, 'I'm his Pokemon, and he's my trainer.'" He said, seeming mad. "I've never seen one of you around. I'm Slasher, the Sandslash. Got it? What're you supposed to be?" he asks me. I've heard of Sandslashs.  
  
"I'm a crystal Pikachu. I can talk the human language. And, um, I'm called Crystal." I replied.  
  
"Cool. I'll show you the rest of the gang. There are three others. That makes five of us. He just needs one more Pokemon to fill up his box."  
  
I watched as he opened the rest of the Pokeballs.  
  
"What the…" I muttered, seeing more unusual Pokemon. Where I had come from, there were only Pikachus.  
  
"You'll get used to seeing new faces. I was Sky's first Pokemon. He got his license a long time ago and refused to have a starting Pokemon and caught me, but I was a Sandshrew." Slasher droned on about that day when he finally introduced the "gang".  
  
"Ok. First up, Puncher, the Machop. Puncher, meet Crystal, the crystal Pikachu. Second up, Skull, the Cubone. Skull, come meet Crystal, the crystal Pikachu. And last but not least, Zone, the Vulpix."  
  
I stared in disbelief that there could be more than 2 kinds of Pokemon in the world. It shows how much I didn't know.  
  
"Get back into your Pokeballs now! I don't really have to… Hey, Crystal. I said 'Get back into your Pokeballs now!'. You're supposed to. I don't have to." Slasher said.  
  
"I wanna make sure that Sky doesn't get mad at us!"  
  
"But, I don't have one. Ok? I just got here and talked with Sky for a sec." I said, nervously. "I don't really want one."  
  
"I can talk with Sky too! He understands me. And um, we all understand him." He pushed a box toward me. "Pick one. We don't really like 'em. We just go in there when we're told. We come out a lot. And when that guy came, man, that was scary."  
  
I picked one out. It had all these little lightning bolt stickers on them.  
  
"Good choice. It's got your surroundings in it. Let's go check on Sky." He said as he started walking. He was really big. I ran to catch up with him. It was hard, considering I had small legs.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End Of Crystal's POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Crystal and Slasher walked into the kitchen. Crystal was awfully surprised that Sky was not crying, just staring at a picture. She wondered if she should leave this kid's life, and maybe everything would be better.  
  
1 Maybe…  
  
To be continued… 


	2. Orphan (Drifter)

Orphan (Drifter)  
  
By Shadow  
  
  
  
"Are you all right?" Slasher asked. The Pikachu behind him peered at Sky. Putting down the picture and turning to the two Pokemon, Sky spoke.  
  
"Guess I'm a drifter. Or some people call people like me orphans. I prefer drifter. It isn't so sad. I'm traveling now. As a Pokemon trainer I always wanted to be. I had my license yet was too afraid to leave. Guess it's not too ordinary for someone to do this. But, I'm seeking out the true meaning. I wanna seek out why I was born. Why my purpose is. If not to stay around the house to help out, I want to know why I was born. " Sky ran up into his room to collect some of his belongings and a backpack that he'd got for his birthday. He took out some of his pictures from his photo album and placed them inside the small compartment where you really couldn't store stuff. He took his no-battery watch that told you the time using how bright it was outside. He took a water bottle. Then he grabbed a pen, a notebook (pretty big) and stuffed them inside the medium sized compartment. Then he got his I-Zone camera out with some film and stuffed them in. Those were really the only things that were actually his. The more he thought about it though, the more he wanted to take his fathers TV/Radio that was pretty small. He ended up taking that. Then he rushed back downstairs into the kitchen to get some food. He got everything out of the fridge, and stuffed them in. Then he reached up to get the fire burner and the charger so he could start fires up to cook and keep warm. He took several 8 packs of batteries and was ready to go.  
  
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Crystal asked. "Like stuff to buy other things with?"  
  
"Oh yeah!" Sky said running upstairs into his parent's bedrooms and grabbing all the money he could find, and then took the bank account cards. "I better be careful how I use this though." Running downstairs he thanked Crystal and got his Pokemon. "You guys walking? Oh wait! Crystal, you don't have your own Pokeball!"  
  
"Shows how much you know." Crystal said. "Don't forget your box of Pokeballs!"  
  
"How'd you…?" Sky wondered aloud.  
  
"I have my ways with my big buddy over here. Thank Slasher." Crystal said.  
  
"Oh… Which one did you choose? 'Cause I found this crystal like one…" Sky said rummaging through the box.  
  
"A crystal one?" Crystal gasped. "B-b-but, that's IMPOSSIBLE!"  
  
"Shows how much you know. You can change as long as you didn't go in the one you chose. Hey! On the back it says a Crystalball. There must be more around the world… Well, just get in!" Sky said, examining the ball.  
  
Crystal hopped in the ball.  
  
"No problem…" she said.  
  
"Get her out now… Sky?!" Slasher said annoyed.  
  
"You like her!" Sky accused sending out Crystal.  
  
"Do not…" Slasher said. "Crystal, does it seem like I like you?"  
  
"Ewwww! Don't say that. That's sicko." Crystal said. "Besides, your BIGGER than me all right." Then whispering to Slasher she asked, "Why's he so calm about this? Why are we so calm with this? Death and all, I mean."  
  
"I really wouldn't know. Maybe it's because there is a lot of it around here. There's murderers." Slasher replied. Then he stepped outside into the sunlight and on the sand of the nearby beach.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Slasher's POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
All right. I admit it. Time's mean so I kill it. It just lags on and on. So I kill time by walking, talking, playing outside, training, or just sleeping. It's not all that bad really until Zone comes out and sees water when you're surfing and almost burns your head off…  
  
Now I'm just dragging off subject. But that IS pretty scary… Admit it!  
  
OK. So now I'm just sitting there, when who else comes outside? Sky! And he goes and steps on me before noticing I'm THERE. Then Crystal hears me yell, runs out and asks if I'm all right. I just stare at her and she asks me again. I say, "Sure!" and she doesn't seem to get what I just said. I notice that I'm still staring at her and then what do I do? I run back in the house and then Sky announces we should leave soon. What a day…  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Slasher's POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sky ran inside the house and called his friend Nicky. She lived next door to him and saw his parents get slaughtered.  
  
Relieved to hear him she started shouting at the telephone like there were monkeys on parade and he had to come see them.  
  
"I'm so glad you're not dead! I mean, I saw the whole thing. I was playing outside and there was a rumbling noise and…"  
  
"Yeah. Well, Nicky. It's been nice knowing ya and all, but now since I've become a drifter, I've gotta go. I'm saying goodbye for the last time, unless I decide to come back and all. Take care of that Onix you have got over there… It could be a tough fighter someday!" Sky said, trying not to sound too sad. It was enough that he had to hold back tears. He really didn't want to leave the place where he grew up. "Goodbye."  
  
"Hold up!" Nicky said. "I'm coming with you."  
  
"What?" Sky said, staring at the phone. "You are?"  
  
"Yeah. Sure! Why not? I only have a Dad. That's good enough to become a "drifter" as you call yourself." She said.  
  
"Be prepared to sleep in trees. Bring all the money that you can find that your Dad won't miss!" Sky said, relieved to have another human to journey with him. "I'll be on my way!" Then he hung up. "She's coming with us. I prefer no. There's only a few people left in this town. It's better she stay, maybe even help."  
  
"Who's coming?" Crystal asked Slasher confused.  
  
"Well, Nicky is his best friend. Best friends since they were 3 at least. Her Mom got slaughtered like those guys over there." Slasher said nodding his head over to Sky's parents. "They were Sky's parents. So, well, she's coming with us. You'll get used to her Pokemon sooner or later too."  
  
"Ouch! That's gotta hurt… Hey, you wanna be best buds?" Crystal asked. "I'm new and all…"  
  
"Sure! Just, err, don't get in the way in battles. It could cause major destruction of me. Heh." Slasher said, laughing a little. "You wouldn't want that, would you?"  
  
"I wouldn't think so!" Sky said, obviously eavesdropping on their conversation. "But Crystal wouldn't do that. She's probably battled at least ONCE on her own. Right?"  
  
"Well… No. Not exactly. But with a few others." Crystal said uneasily. "We usually help each other."  
  
"You'll get the rules sometime or another. Either sooner or later, now or then…" Sky said, repeating different phrases from books.  
  
"And…here we go again!" the Sandslash said looking annoyed. "Yet one of his many phases to hopefully pass soon."  
  
"Hey! I heard that!" Sky said stopping. He didn't look happy. "Imagine daggers…"  
  
"Imagine claws…"  
  
"Imagine you two shutting up…" muttered Crystal. "It would be a miracle."  
  
Slasher and Sky immediately burst out laughing.  
  
"You…ha ha…don't…ha ha…get it!" Sky said, occasionally snorting. "It's a personal joke. Uh, I think I should only have one or two Pokemon out. Eventually one of you has to go in your balls. Oh! Shoot! We gotta get over to Nicky's house! I should leave a note though… Just so someone knows I'm still alive, but gone." Sky scribbled out something, left it on the kitchen table, and hurried out the door with his Pokemon and stuff he wanted to take.  
  
"Looks like we shouldn't have done our 'personal joke' just then." Slasher said, huffing and puffing. "It made us have to run!"  
  
"Crystalball time for me!" Crystal yelled, almost pulling down Sky's pants to get in her ball. "Serve's him right!"  
  
"And why do I suddenly hear that?" asked Slasher. "Because… um… You said it maybe? Oh great, I'm confusing myself…"  
  
He could hear the muffled voice coming from Sky's belt saying, "He's the, FREAK-'O'-NATURE!"  
  
"I'm gonna get you!" Slasher said, then realized he was getting sucked into his Pokeball. "Why me?"  
  
Sky started punching Slasher's Pokeball until he shut up and then rang the doorbell.  
  
"Nancy Drew!?!? You in there?"  
  
"First off, I'm NOT, n-o-t, Nancy Drew. Second off, I'm ready. Let me just get Onix and that new Wolfullfy I've been telling you about." Nicky said, opening the door and running back in the kitchen. "We're making waffles!"  
  
"I…don't get it."  
  
"Neither do I, but I've been watching Shrek and a couple of other movies." She said calling out Wolfullfy. "I've asked the 'dex and he said that it's pretty strong. Looks like I've caught myself a fighter!"  
  
"Hmm… Interesting. Keep him out. See if he makes friends with the two I'm keeping out." Sky said calling out Crystal and Slasher. He watched Nicky's face as she inspected the crystal Pikachu.  
  
"Oh my gosh! You've got a…?" Nicky asked. She looked around and blinked a couple of times. "It's pure, Day Zhah Vue!"  
  
"Go ahead Crystal, talk!" Sky said. Wait 'til Nicky saw this.  
  
"Ok! Geez! I'm talking already. What do you want?" Crystal said, looking over Nicky.  
  
Nicky just stared wide-eyed at Crystal and then Sky. It went back and forth like this for 5 minutes.  
  
"I think we should…go."  
  
"Fine with me!" Crystal said, lagging back toward Wolfullfy and Slasher. "Wolfullfy, are you a new species or something?"  
  
"You could say that. I don't know how the humans understand us and stuff. I mean, they must study hard?!" Wolfullfy said. "Call me Fanglifter. I guess my Mom, a Houndour, and my Dad, a Growlithe mated… Big mix."  
  
"I'm going into a language that the humans NEVER learned to understand. The basic Pika-Pika stuff. We try too hard and then they studied the stuff we try pretty hardly and they never know the basic." Crystal said. "Although, I could teach you the human language…"  
  
"Slash-sand-slash-slash!" Good idea. It'd be easy for all of us. How hard?   
  
"Wolf-full-wolf!" Not very. I know it. It takes only 5 minutes to learn almost the whole vocab.  
  
"Pika-chu-chu! Pi!" I'll just get Sky and Nicky to get their Pokemon out. "Sky! Nicky! We need all your Pokemon out here."  
  
"Sure!" Nicky said sending out her Pokemon. Sky did the same.  
  
"Pika. Chu-chu! Pika-pi-pikachu!" Ok, you guys. You're gonna learn the human language. And you're gonna use it too!   
  
80 minutes had passed and all the Pokemon had learned the human language.  
  
"Wow. It feels, well, um, great to be talking!" Zone said. "Now we just need some soda to celebrate!"  
  
Sky turned around. "What the…? How'd you learn it?"  
  
"Well, thank Crystal if you want. Our new ability. Turns out Pika over here, knows how to imitate other attack! She's got my Slash Attack already!" Slasher said. It's not so bad to be talking.  
  
"Do you guys have any Cryst Berries?" Crystal asked. "I mean, I have some and all, but those are for newcomers. We should stop and collect some. They're just outside the forest. All you need is a little jar…"  
  
"Got one!" Nicky said. "I mean, a jar and all. It can fit about 1000 of those berries. Why do you need them?"  
  
"So we can learn attacks that say Slasher has. One berry for all is all we need. But 1000 is better." Crystal said. "It's only two minutes from where we're standing. Also, the berries only let you absorb a couple attacks. I wouldn't say that I could learn TWO of Slasher's moves. It limits you to absorbing 6, then you're done. Of course, if you're good enough, you might learn attacks on your own…" Everything takes so…short to finish. It's almost not fun!  
  
Then Crystal led them to the bushes and they got their berries. Every Pokemon except Crystal ate one.  
  
"Simpletons…" a boy about 12 said as he stepped out into the open. "I'm Zak. Let's battle!"  
  
"Sure. Bring it on!" Sky said. "You can have first pick."  
  
"Go… Drowzee!"  
  
"Go… Slasher!"  
  
"Bring it on baby!" Slasher stepped into the clearing. "Bring it on!"  
  
"Drowzee! Hypnosis!"  
  
"You don't know anything… Slasher! Hypnosis!"  
  
Slasher looked into Drowzee's eyes and instantly, Drowzee fell asleep.  
  
"You can do better than that!" Slasher yelled. "That was almost too easy!"  
  
"Return, Drowzee. Go… Geodude!"  
  
"Yeah… Let me see… Skull! You're up this time."  
  
"No! I'll do it." Slasher said. "I'm not giving up either."  
  
"Fine. Slasher! Um… Agility!"  
  
Slasher ran around the Geodude while it tried to keep up with him. Eventually, Geodude got dizzy and fell hard to the ground.  
  
"Dude…" Ouch!   
  
"My Pokemon!" Zak shouted. "You…you…meanie!" He turned and almost ran when Sky stopped him.  
  
"No! I'll give you… one of my Pokemon… I don't want to. But I can't bear to leave someone like this! Puncher… I'm sorry. So now I'll lose another important person in my life." Slightly crying, he called out Puncher to say good-bye.  
  
"Ma-chop-chop!" It's ok. I really didn't like English anyway…  
  
"Bye!" all the Pokemon said, waving. "We'll miss ya!"  
  
"Gee. I'd never thought I'd see the day… I really want to go home. I'm sorry I dragged you all this way. Mind if I take um the berries? I mean, I want to see my dad and protect him and all. May we meet again?" Nicky said.  
  
"Naw. It's ok. Keep them. I don't think they worked well. Let me just have one though. If I catch a Charmander, I'll be feeding him this! And yes, we shall meet again, when I am on a quest and you are on a journey." Sky said, disappointed anyway.  
  
"Pika! Pikachu!" Hey! I can't talk anymore OR use Slash!   
  
"Bone-Cubone!" Me neither!   
  
"Vulpix!" I can't.   
  
"Hey, I can!" Slasher said. "And… What? I lost Hypnosis? But I've got all these other attacks… Maybe, just maybe, only the special Pokemon can keep talking and cool attacks. Oh my Jesus! I remember reading something about Cryst Berries. Only the descendents of someone and someone will get new abilities never known so they'll know something. And the other thing was, if a talking Pokemon ate one, um, they couldn't talk and um, after a few minutes lose all special power. So -- "  
  
The rest of the sentence was cut off by Sky shouting for Slasher.  
  
"Slash him 10 times!" he yelled. So Slasher did so. And Sky threw a Pokeball, and he had caught a Charmeleon.  
  
"Hey! Let me outta here!" the Charmeleon said, pounding on the Pokeball.  
  
"Coolio! Sweet! Another talking Pokemon!" Slasher said, excitedly. "And you didn't give him a berry, but I can sense that he's got the same attacks as me! He's a descendent!"  
  
"Pikachu! Pika-pi!" Now that you've got a friend, I'm out of here. This place is weird. Meet again, idol? Crystal said running off.  
  
"Slash! Sandslash!" Goodbye! See you buddy! And Sky didn't even notice… Another "lost" person in his life.   
  
"Char. Charmeleon!" Tell that kid to get me out!   
  
"Slash! Sand. Slash-slash." Okay. Wait a minute.   
  
"He wants you to get him out." Slasher told Sky.  
  
"Well, that's what you were saying? Return Cubone. Come on out…"  
  
"Volcano!" came the muffled voice from inside the ball.  
  
"Come on out Volcano!" Sky shouted.  
  
"Don't rip my ear off!" Volcano said. "Thanks, uh, Sandslash."  
  
"Slasher. That's my name! Don't wear it out! Oh, and by the way Sky, Crystal just ran off."  
  
"Vvvvvveeeeeerrrrrryyyyy funny."  
  
"She did."  
  
"Ok. Nice joke. No Pokemon can just run away like that."  
  
"Watch it, Firebreath." Slasher said annoyed. "Or you'll be toast."  
  
"Ha. Ha."  
  
"She did? Oh… Another lost person… We SHALL meet again Crystal, if you like it or not." Sky mumbled crying.  
  
"Let's… TCG battle! You offended me Firebreath. Either that or I will kill you." Slasher said, getting out his deck from Sky's backpack. (Must've snuck it in.)  
  
"Sure. I've got this one with me. I was just playing it when this guy comes and catches me."  
  
"Can I play?" Sky asked. Sniffing back a tear, he got out a tissue. "Plus, I shouldn't of gave Machop away. That was stupid, wasn't it?"  
  
"I'll say…" Slasher whispered to Volcano. "I mean, it was his second Pokemon."  
  
"Well, anyways. You can't play Sky. Kick it up Slasher." Volcano said.  
  
"You wouldn't know how." Slasher said, pointing that weakness out. "It'd be too easy to win. And Volcano, how were you playing in the WILD? There is no mat or nothing."  
  
"Grass. And stone. We burn it into a mat/table." Volcano said. "And again, no Sky."  
  
"Like I care…" mumbled Sky. "Just watch who you actually 'talk' to. Keep it under cover. Go do your Poke-humble-jumble."  
  
"Slash. Slash?" Like this?   
  
"Like that!" Sky said. "I'm just watching out for you."  
  
"And I'm gonna kill you good, Charmeleon." Slasher said. "You won't even know what hit ya."  
  
  
  
Walking along a winding path, Sky led the trio. Behind him, the two Pokemon were fighting. (Actually, Volcano started it.) It went somewhat like this.  
  
"Get away from me Volcano!" Slasher said.  
  
"Nope. Just for that… You wanna hit the showers? *wink wink *" Volcano said, sarcastically.  
  
"Freak."  
  
"Freak of nature."  
  
"That's the second, freakin', time someone's called me that!" Slasher yelled.  
  
"Are you guys ready to shut up yet?" Sky asked. "Someday, you'll kill each other."  
  
"Well, that'd be the darndest thing." Slasher said. "Like kids do the darndest things."  
  
"Where are you getting that, man? Where?" Volcano said, obviously stressing himself out.  
  
"Like I said, Charmeleon's do the darndest things…"  
  
"Shut up already!"  
  
"No." Volcano said, looking around. "Right about now he'll say…"  
  
"Charmeleon-Char!" We're lost!   
  
"We're lost guys." Sky said. Throwing his map aside, he walked to the nearest rock. He sat down for a moment, stood up, sat down again, and scratched his head.  
  
"I don't get it. I was following the map and all."  
  
Then Volcano went to pick it up. It turned out the map was upside down.  
  
"We're right about…here!" Slasher said, pointing to a small forest on the map. "Looks pretty big when you're in it though." Studying the map carefully, he made out the nearest city. "Cerulean. Cerulean City." Freaky music plays in the back round and two guys and a girl jump out.  
  
"Prepare for trouble…"  
  
"And make that double…"  
  
"And make that YADDA!" Charmeleon said, completely ignoring the music.  
  
"And make that triple…"  
  
"To protect the world from devistation…"  
  
"To annoy all people within the nation!" Slasher said. "Am I right?"  
  
"Never mind the slogan then." The girl said. "I'm Jane. Now give me your Pokemon."  
  
"Never!" Sky said.  
  
"Never!" chorused Volcano and Slasher.  
  
Then there was a weird flash of light and the two Pokemon were blinded. But they fought blindly, eventually hitting James, Jane, and Howard.  
  
"Look's like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Then Team Rocket ran until they were out of sight.  
  
"Thanks guys." Sky said. "I don't think I would've done it without you. Boy were they weird though…"  
  
"Welcome!" they said in unison.  
  
"I could've done it alone." Slasher said.  
  
"No you couldn't. You need me dude." Volcano replied.  
  
"No I don't."  
  
"Yes, you do."  
  
"No."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"One on one then. Me against you!" Slasher yelled.  
  
"Sure. Bet your guts are tasty…"  
  
"Grrrrr… Bring it on!"  
  
Slasher jumped and took a dive at Volcano.  
  
"You can surely do better than that!" Volcano taunted, dodging the dive.  
  
"Break it up! I can't afford to lose one of you!" Sky yelled. "You'd think that'd you guys were dark and light… I might as well re-name my other Pokemon. Two Pokemon with nicknames are easier to remember. Volcano seems to be the light guy…"  
  
"No!" Slasher protested. "I am!"  
  
"Accept who you are dude. Do it." Volcano said, walking off into the woods. "I might as well take a walk."  
  
To be continued… 


	3. Agony, Pain, and Legends

**

Agony, Pain, Legends  
By: Shadow

** Walking along once again, Sky, Slasher, and Volcano cut through the long vines, and looking up now and again to see if the sun was shining or not. Obviously not, since the trees blocked all view, but it was darker than usual. Pushing past another vine, Sky walked straight out into a city.

"Guys! I found a city!" Sky yelled. 

"That's nice." Volcano said. Looking over his shoulder at Slasher. All of a sudden **BOOM!** Slasher fell down, clutching his chest as if he had a heart attack. "Hey! Sky! Get over here!" Kneeling down, Sky felt Slasher's heart. 

"Still beating." Sky said. "We need to get to the nearest Pokemon center fast!"

Calling Slasher into his Pokeball, the two friends started running as fast as they could.

----------------------------------------------------- 

At the Pokemon center in Pewter City, Sky, Slasher, and Volcano, were sitting in a booth. 

"Whoa! I can't believe you got hurt! If it wasn't for me…" Volcano said, letting everyone finish the sentence. "Well, we've gotta find out…"

"Yeah. I know. You just collapsed." Sky said. 

"Now that I'm out of the ER, you don't need to worry." Slasher said, pointing at the metal bandage that was permanently sown on his chest. "Besides, this thing will protect me." 

"I wouldn't be so sure." Nurse Joy said, stepping beside the booth. "That's just a plate so no infection will get in that small gash you gave yourself." 

"I'll say." Volcano said. 

"Well, we've gotta find out who or what did this to me! Come on. I'd never get hurt." Slasher said, waving his claws over to the door. "We gotta get going!" Reluctantly, everyone followed. They didn't know where they were going or how'd they'd eventually get there. All they knew is that they'd find something, good or bad. 

"Good-bye!" Nurse Joy called after them. "We hope to see you again!" 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Can we rest for awhile?" Volcano said. "I gotta get some rest." He fell down, clutched his heart, and then opened his eyes. They seemed really red. Almost evil, maybe. 

"Hey, man, you ok?" Slasher said, looking over at Sky. "Sky, I don't think he's himself anymore. This happened to me." Backing away, Sky and Slasher watched what Volcano would do. Volcano got up, brushed himself off, and spoke in a deep, strange, voice. 

"Hurt of wrongness, hurt thou who open the wrong gateways to life. Forever night will blind thee, and the world will fall to a great doom." Volcano said. Then he fell, limp, to the ground. 

"Hurt of wrongness, hurt thou who open the wrong gateways to life… That sounds like it falls upon you guys." Sky said. "But what are the wrong gateways to life? And how'd you open them?" 

"I dunno Sky, but whatever it is, it hurts us. It might hurt you. Go! Leave us to die." Slasher said, bending over the hurt Charmeleon. "I can't risk your life for ours." 

"Why shouldn't I risk my butt? I've already lost my family, I won't lose you. You have people who love you. I don't." Sky said. "I'll help you, whatever it may bring. Got it? And don't try and stop me either!" Looking at the clouds, he said a few words to himself. 

_I know what's happened. I opened their gates. I told them whether or not they were light and dark. Bad or good. I didn't do that on purpose. It just seemed…so right. I was wrong yet again. I have to learn._ "Then I won't." Slasher said. "But if you die, I'll feel bad about myself. Now, do you have a way that this whole word puzzle thingy works out?" 

"I might have a theory." 

"Spit it out." 

"Remember when I called you dark and called Volcano light? Maybe, just maybe, I opened your gateways for you, but they were the wrong ones. Maybe you are the light guy and… he's the dark guy. I don't know. I don't think there is such a thing…" Sky said. Blushing, he pulled out an old book. Its spine was falling apart, and it was made of rusty metal. Pulling open the iron lock, and turning the page to Ancient Legends, he started reading. 

"The light and dark Pokemon Gods, Rasp and Musk, fought. Together they fought against an evil force, Mewtwo, another ancient God. Fighting about the battle, they became mortal enemies. Yet, their descendents will somehow bring together their courage to become friends and save the world from total destruction." 

"That's all?" Slasher asked. "That will not help us, you know." 

"I know. But there's more." Sky said. Turning the page, he read more ancient words. "Ok. Right here… If the two descendents choose their own path, they will be hurt. Rasp, the dark God, will speak through a nearby body, afterwards leaving he/she limp. He will speak few words, and when the time is right, will set on obstacles for the dark descendent while the light descendent will be spoken to by Musk after an unknown test." Sky read. "Happy now?" 

"That means that I'm light, the descendent of Musk, but it doesn't prove anything about Volcano." Slasher said. "Am I correct?" Trying to connect the limp body and the one sentence Sky read. "And now, we're lost in another jungle or forest or whatever you wanna call what we're lost in, and we have a hurt body, PLUS all that, we have no map. Where does that all lead us?" 

"Uh. To this underwater hideout maybe?" Sky said, peering into the murky water of a lake. "Or whatever this might be." 

"Maybe. Wait! Did you just say 'underground hideout'?" Slasher said, looking in the lake for himself. "Hold on!" Then swimming to the bottom of the murky water and opening the door, or something that appeared to be a door, to the hideout, he swam back up. "Looks that way. And pretty much deserted. Bring the body and yourself down and come in!" 

After swimming down with Volcano on his back, he stepped inside the hideout, amazed at what he saw. 

------------------------------------------------

He woke in a lab bed. He was strapped down and had wires suctioned onto his head. He was an experiment. No. It couldn't be. He was just with Sky and Slasher a second ago. How'd he get here? Putting his head up, Volcano could see a worried Slasher and Sky as a computer went to work on him. Sky got up and walked to a computer. The line in the middle was flat. Sky put his hand up to his forehead and ran his hand down. He could hear something Slasher said. _I'm sorry he died. Really sorry._ What did that mean? Looking down at his own body, he could see he was turning an awesome blue. But what did it all mean? Was he dead? 

"No!" Volcano said, straining against his dying body. "I can't die!" Suddenly, he felt a surge of power, and broke the bands that held him down. He stood on the bed, chanting the same words over and over. _I will not die. I cannot die._ Then looking down at himself, he realized that he was still an icy blue. He saw Slasher look up, and poke Sky. "I'm not dead." Volcano said walking slowly toward his two friends. The heavy metal armor held him back from going faster. "I'm not dead." 

"He's not dead!" Slasher echoed in awe. "Check the computer Sky. Now!" 

Sky ran to the computer and the middle line went up and down steadily. Then the screen went black as Volcano tore the last wire from his now armored body. 

"Told ya I wouldn't die." Volcano said. "Don't lose faith in me." 

"Next time, I won't. How'd you do that?" Slasher asked curiously. "I mean that was fantabulous!" 

"Well, um. I just sorta thought of all the bad things that's happened to me and how I didn't want to die now so I could maybe show those bad things a lesson or two." Volcano said. Seeing that Slasher and Sky were wide eyed, he asked them what was wrong. 

"Oh. Nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing, nothing, nothing!" Sky said, hoping that Volcano didn't already know his origin. "We're just amazed is all." Seeing that Slasher's mouth was still wide open, he hit him. 

"Ouch." Slasher said dully. "Ouch." 

"So. What should I do about this…thing?" Volcano asked gesturing towards his armor. "I don't wanna wear it all the time." Then growling something, the armor was gone. 

"What'd you do?" asked Sky. "I mean, it just disappeared right now." Then touching Volcano's chest, he realized that there was a metal patch almost like Slasher's. Then reaching over and touching Slasher's chest, he noticed that the metal patch had changed. It was now a yellow/red color. Volcano's was a blue/purple color. He wondered what it meant. 

"Well. If you'd stop touching us, I'll tell you." Volcano snapped. "Oh. Sorry about that. I'm just tired is all. Well, just now I mumbled that I wanted the armor to go away. If you want exact words, listen carefully. I said, 'New Armor Shield O.'" Then Volcano mumbled something else and the armor appeared. "For that I said, 'Armor Activate'." 

"Wow. I've never seen anything so perfect in my life!" Sky said in a robotic like voice. Then when Volcano took his eyes off of him, he returned to normal and said the same exact thing in his normal voice. Slasher realized that Volcano must have done it, because he always liked to brag. It'd show him… When he got something special for being a descendent, he would do something really special. Maybe to protect them from something evil and bad. But he knew he would. There was a rumbling noise coming from another room in the hideout. 

"I'll cover it!" Slasher said jumping up to duty. Running around the hideout, he wondered why he'd volunteered. But he knew he should be watching his back instead. There was a low rumbling noise and then a voice. 

_Slasher._

"Yes?" 

_Do you know who I am?_

"No. Am I supposed to?" 

_You should._

"Really?" 

_Yes._

"Cool." 

_Who am I?_

"Er… Musk?" Slasher said. "Eh, don't be offended, I'm just kidding." 

_Good. You know who I am._

"What do you want?" Slasher said, prepared to fight for his life if he really needed to. "If you're here to hurt me…"

_NO! I mean, no. Ok. You have earned a special power. Do you know why?_

"Stumped. But you can tell me anyway." 

_Because you would save your friends, you dingdong!_

"That easy? Why does it have to be easy? I thought you were supposed to be the light God… Now I'm confused." Slasher said. "What is it?" 

_I must leave you now! Toodle-ooes! Oh, and by the way, that's the only easy one._

"Future Walk. Allows me to walk on all walls, even ceilings. Too bad I didn't get armor." 

_That's for the dark guy dimwit! Now go back to your friends!_

"Geez. Ok anyways. I'll try out my new little ability. Future Walk!" Nothing happened. So Slasher started walking, and not watching where he was going, he almost bumped into the wall. But, he started walking up the wall, and to his surprise, was soon hanging from the ceiling. "Yippie. How do I get down?" 

At that same moment, Volcano came in to see if Slasher was all right. "Oh my Lord!" he shouted, astounded at what he was seeing. "You're up on the ceiling!" He ran back into the medic room where Sky was looking something up on the computer. He tugged at Sky's sleeve, gesturing for him to come into the main hall. When Sky saw Slasher himself, he started shouting stuff. Stuff like: What the… and Can you get down? It was a pain to listen to so Volcano told him to shut up. 

"Why are you yelling? It's just me… up on the ceiling!" Slasher yelled down. "My new ability." He realized that in order to get down, you had to walk down another wall. He hurried in doing so, for he felt like he was going to -

**"BLAHUH!"**

--throw up. 

"What a pretty sight." Volcano joked. "I'll need all the armor I can get my hands on to get this smell out!" 

"You're just jealous." Slasher replied after 10 minutes. "And that, that is the truth." 

----------------------------------------------

**Present Day, Same Forest/Jungle**

"This oughta be a grand picture!" a 16 year old boy said, snapping a picture with his brand new cam-corder/camera/computer like product. "And right on my mini computer. Yummy." 

"What's yummy?" snarled 3 weird looking people. 

"Prepare for trouble." 

"And make that triple!" 

"To protect this world from devistation." 

"To unite all peoples within our nations!" 

"To announce the evils of truth and love!" 

"To extend our reign to the stars above!" 

"Jane!" 

"James!" 

"Howard!" 

"Blast off at the speed of light!" 

"Surrender now or prepare to…"

"Fight, fight, fight!" 

"Pidgeot!" 

"That's right!" 

"Thanks, but no thanks guys. I don't need any products right now. Look me up as Hald. Seeya!" and the 16 year old male, pushed back a stunned Team Rocket and Pidgeot, just to stumble into a lake. 

-------------------------------------------------

**Hideout**

There was a pounding sort of noise coming from the closest underwater door (the one that they entered the hideout through). 

"I'll check." The 17 year-old male ran up the stairs to the camera. He activated the security system and then getting to the main screen imported the camera picture to the computer. He zoomed the camera around until it landed right under the door. A 16 year-old clung onto part of the door, and pounding his fist on the unseen wall, looked like he was drowning. "I'm going to let him in guys. Prepare to attack. Don't attack 'til I say 'Now'." 

"Right." The two Pokemon saluted. "Rock on." 

Sky entered the code in the door, hoped that the water door kept shut afterwards, and opened the heavy metal door. The teenager was dumped in right in front of Sky's feet. 

"No bowing. I just saved your life." Sky said. "Who are you?" 

Scrambling up to his feet, the visitor and worthy swimmer of the lake, shook himself off. He stared at Sky. 

"If you will not talk…" Sky started. He almost said 'Now', when the visitor started to speak. 

"I-I-I'm Hald. Nice to meet you. I must be going. I'm…" said the teenager, obviously named Hald. 

"Silence. You can't go until I see some ID." Sky demanded. Watching the visitor, Hald, pull out a wallet and open it to his ID, he knew that this guy was trouble. Taking the ID, Sky read it over. "Hmmm… Rocket Rangers? Dark Agent #100 eh? Sorry. You must… NOW!" After the sounding gun went off, Slasher jumped from the ceiling and in two great big jumps, knocked Hald down. Out of nowhere, the Icy Blue Charmeleon speeded toward the two, and just as Volcano hit, Slasher jumped out of the way and ran up to the ceiling and down the other wall where he kicked Hald's head. 

"Sorry sucker." Slasher said. Then, having Sky open the door, tossed Hald into the dark, murky, water. "We'll not be seeing much of him." But somewhere deep inside, Slasher knew he did the wrong and right thing. He protected his friends, yet, what if this Hald guy was innocent? He'd never know. 

-------------------------------------------------

**Bolivar Town, Same Time**

Nicky threw some punches at a wall. Apparently, her town was a ghost town. Even the murderers left. But she was pretty sure she wasn't alone. Just a day before, she was sure she heard voices coming from her deserted home. Well, it wasn't deserted. She had picked up most of the bodies and buried them. Some in her home, some in others. 

"What the…" Nicky muttered as a whip just missed her hand. "Who's there?" 

"Wolf! Wolf-fully-fu!" her wolf like Pokemon unleashed another sudden attack. 

"You're just training I hope." Nicky said, nodding her approval. "I'll move over here." She moved over, and noticed something on the dirt ground. It was mostly dark in Bolivar Town since everyone was either killed or fled. "A note. Maybe it's from the murderers. Too bad I can't read it. Too dark. I'll go fetch myself a flashlight." She ran inside Sky's house, too lazy to go into her own, partly because of the buried dead bodies, and searched for a flashlight. Scanning the area, she opened a drawer. She scrambled through it. "Got one." 

Turning around, there was a snarling noise. 

"Rocket Rangers? What stupid name did our boss pick? We're going around killing people and we're only Rocket Rangers? It's like we've come out of Team Rocket!" a man in a black coat with dark sunglasses and a backwards, black hat said. The other one, just like him, replied. He had more of a raspier voice. 

"It's the boss. Boss's orders _are_ boss's orders after all. Just let him be. He just found out we lost his best agent. I was the runner up. I sent him towards that lake, saying the boss wanted him to. That piece of dirt thinks it's for real, and goes down there pretending to be a stupid photographer! Run's into Team Rocket, pushes them away, just to fall into a lake." 

"What if Sky's there?" Nicky whispered to herself. Running around the living room to get a better look at the Rocket Rangers, she stepped on a remote. The TV turned on, making a noise. She ran to the remote and turned it off in time to hear footsteps coming her way. 

_I better scat._

She ran out of the room to the back door where she stepped outside, got all Pokemon in their rightful Pokeballs and ran off. 

_Of course I'll call Sky on behalf of the Rocket Rangers… I wonder if I'll be seeing the last of them soon. I'll make sure none are left._

----------------------------------------------------

**Hideout**

"I'm angry." Sky said. 

"A quote often said. Heh." Slasher remarked. "Are you always angry, sad, or depressed." 

"Thanks for telling me. Like I needed to know." Sky snapped. 

"Let me start a new, cool, conversation." Volcano suggested. "I think you might find it interesting." 

"Fire away…" Sky and Slasher said. "Go ahead." 

"Well… Here's one! Why were you named Sky? I mean, there are plenty of perfectly good names like Joshua, ect., ect." Volcano asked. 

"Oh no…"

RING…RING…RING! 

"It's my cell!" Sky said, reaching into his back pack and pulling out the ringing device. "Hello?" 

"Sky? Hey! It's Nicky!" the voice one the other line said. 

"Nicky? It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Sky said. 

"Where are you?" 

"In our new underwater hideout. Why?" 

"Because, um. Something bad has happened. This place is deserted. My dad ran off, and a few others did so too. Um, the murderers Rocket Rangers or at least agents, have killed everyone else off. I just got there yesterday." 

"You mean Dark Agents like Dark Agent #100? I've heard of them! And did they copy Team R or something?" 

"Well, um, they wanted you to kill that guy. I think you did. If you didn't, excuse me. But that's good. The less around, the safer it is. Now we've got two teams to worry about. And watch out you guys! It's a rough ride from here! Bye." Then they heard a click and the line was dead. 

"Hmmm… Strange." Volcano muttered. "First we're super guys then we have to save the world from two evil teams." 

"She didn't even care about our underwater hideout?" Slasher yelled. "You didn't even mention it all that much!" 

"Jeez. How low can you go?" Sky asked. "This isn't some great palace everyone needs to know about. I mean this is our hideout. Take it apart and what have you got left? Hide and out. Okay? Now it's 9:00 and I want to get some rest. Maybe I'll find my meaning when I'm asleep." 

"I wish I could find mine." Slasher said, kicking the floor with his foot. "You guys go on ahead and pick rooms for this section. I'll go to sleep in a while." 

"Whatever dude." Volcano said, yawning. "See ya in the funny papers." 

Walking around for a little while, he decided to go into the computer lab nearby. He didn't really decide. He stumbled into it. 

"Ouch?" Slasher got up and went to the nearest computer. "Lets see what these claws can do." He put himself to the test and typed in a command. 

Map.

A map of the hideout came up. He could see it went probably all the way around the world. He wanted to know how you could get around from one section to another. He typed in another command. 

Get Around.

An info box popped up. It read: 

To get around you locate the transporter device in each area. Hook up to computer and click on area you want to transport to. Anyone touching the transporter at the time will then be transported into the area of choice. You will be transported into that area's main room. All computer labs are located in the same spot in every area. Press 'M' for more info.

Slasher decided not to press M. He wasn't going anywhere for the next couple of days. He'd just do a bit of research every night. He'd be the smartest one in the alley. Or at least in the building. 

_I wonder if anyone really does live here. And who he/she is. _

Clicking on the exit button, Slasher realized that there was an email and his computer had been making noises that whole time. 

"Might as well see who it is." 

He clicked on the message title: Good To See You. It was dated January 1, 1990. 

_That doesn't make sense! It's way past the 90s! It's 2001! Seesh!_

He stared at it. Just stared and stared like it had read his mind. It was an ad. An ad from… who? He couldn't see the name. He got dizzy and fell down…

-----------------------------------------------------

A very old Sandslash held a bleeding wound. It had been shot with a human gun. It got up and attacked the human standing over it. 

A young Sandshrew ran alongside his father, who had been badly wounded too. But he was still alive and still standing. Taking the shot in the leg had been painful, yet he could still run. 

"Where are we going?" the young Sandshrew asked. "I want my Mom!" It sat down and started crying. 

"Son! Hurry up! Your Ma is dead, and she ain't coming back!" his father yelled. The young Sandshrew almost got shot if it wasn't for his father. He leaped in the way to protect its son from harm. "R-r-run…" 

_No Daddy! No!_

The Sandshrew ran through the fields alone, running, running. He ran right into a Charmander. 

"Where ya going?" it asked the Sandshrew. 

"Just run!!!!!" the Sandshrew yelled back. "Run!" 

_Run. Run. Run. Run. Run._

The two could hear gun shots as a Sandslash's cry could be heard. 

_Daddy!_

The young Sandshrew felt like running back to help his dad, but he couldn't. He knew he couldn't stand a chance against those guns. Not a chance. 

They kept on running. Just kept right on running and running, until out of sight in a cave, where they were safe. 

-----------------------------------------------

"He was reunited with his Mama and Papa!" Slasher yelled. "Some kid, I know, he was reunited with his Mama and Papa! I think…" He looked at the computer screen. The email was still open. What it had said. It was gone now. Even the picture. It was gone. Completely blank. And nothing would bring it back. 

To Be Continued… 


End file.
